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40th Year Anniversary – Couple Shoot

Posted by Ela on Jul 26th, 2010 | no responses

I’m speechless. You know I had a conversation with her and she told me the history between them. It turns out they were kids having fun in the start and what sparked into a magical fairy tale they are still living today. She gave me some advice as I mentioned my other half Paul to her during a conversation. She said to me “I’ve learnt that .. As long as you are best friends along the way, through thick and thin everything will work itself out.” She turned to her husband, grabbed his hand and said “I can honestly say he is my best friend & that’s what has...

Danielle & Geoffrey – Wedding Slideshow – Wollongong Wedding Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jul 19th, 2010 | no responses

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Geoffrey & Danielle – Wedding Day – Illawarra Wedding Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jul 19th, 2010 | no responses

Geoffrey & Danielle’s Wedding was nothing short of unforgettable. The location portraits were full of random laughter from the bridal party, Dani’s urge to pull faces in photos, and on my part.. fading-light phoebia (I don’t think there’s a formal name for that). But nowadays, daylight savings sets out to make my job just a tad bit harder by the sun setting no later than 5:30 if we’re lucky LOL. So off we went to Wollongong Little Lighthouse, then to Port Kembla’s outer harbour to take advantage of the rustic scenery (again hehe) but keeping the sun in mind. The...

Editorial Shoot – Sharna – Illawarra Fashion Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jul 14th, 2010 | no responses

Shot with Olivia Clee and Ulladulla model, Sharna on the weekend for an editorial shoot. We searched the streets of the Wollongong CBD and found all sorts of cool textures – red bricks, rusted window grates and the slats outside the Ibis Hotel Wollongong. We shot for aroun 2.5 hours, it rained on and off, but Sharna was a trooper so she didn’t let a little flyaway frizz worry her (true spirits of a real model). Basically what I did here is set up my ring flash to camera left, at 45 degrees. Had the aperture on f/1.8 which I could get away with because the Orbis ring flash can lose up...

Daniel & Rachel – Wedding – Illawarra Wedding Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jul 10th, 2010 | no responses

Continuing Rachel & Daniel’s wedding day story.. Rach got ready at The Salt Apartments, just around the corner from Flagstaff Hill. It almost seems to be a traditional now. Salt Apartments + Flagstaff Hill Ceremony + City Beach Function Centre = Happy Wedding Day smiles :D If I have to shoot another 50 of these sequences I won’t get bored, the locations are beautiful in Wollongong and there’s always a new perspective I get everytime I visit the Harbour. I loved this window, it left in a shaft of light from the eastern side of the building which helped me create this shot....

Michelle & Glenn – Novatel North Beach – Illawarra Wedding Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jul 7th, 2010 | no responses

The wedding day of Glenn and Michelle.. Amazing! From their rockin’ HUMMER, to their beautiful reception at Novatel North Beach and to their stunning ceremony on Flagstaff Hill.. Now me being a wollongong wedding photographer, I have shot many weddings at Flagstaff and am familiar with how beautiful the entire atmosphere of the lighthouses and the harbour is. So here we go, Glenn and Michelle, two very amazing people. I first met them at their house in Flinders and as I got to know them I found Michelle to be very much like me! Cheeky-crazy, craves attention after stubbing her toe.. and totally...

Family Portrait Session – Mt Warrigal Jetty – Wollongong Portrait Photography

Posted by Ela on Jun 28th, 2010 | one response

We went out to Mt Warrigal jetty yesterday afternoon to photograph a lovely family foursome. Anthony & Lauren and their two daughters Laelia & Tahlia were so playful and had been counting down the days to the photo shoot. With the cold weather against us but the afternoon light for us, I thought we’ll pull it off! :) So to the jetty it was, even Anthony’s dad, Tony, jumped in a few shots.. he also made a good assistant. The sounds, noises and faces he made to make the girls laugh while he was standing out of the shot were unforgettable. He sounded like a hungry, flying-purple-people-eater.....

Baby Hunter – Autumn Session – Wollongong Portrait Photography

Posted by Ela on Jun 27th, 2010 | no responses

I recently shot Rachel & Daniel’s wedding back in February on Valentines day (oh the depressing weather on valentines day weekend made my heart sink to the bottom of my thoracic cavity). But none-the-less Daniel and Rachel still went ahead with their Flagstaff Hill & City Beach wedding.. It was a glorious day to celebrate their love and devotion to each other. Now onto Baby Hunter.. Rachel’s Nephew. Bub’s are cute, precious and so pur.. what is there more to say? They are the world’s miracles and happen every single day! I enjoyed shooting hunter in the colours Autumn...

Leisa & Jay – Wedding – Illawarra Wedding Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jun 25th, 2010 | no responses

Where do I start? Leisa aimed for her wedding day to be a little different instead of the non-traditional cake, she went with chocolate covered strawberries, instead of reception photography she hired a funbooth for 4 hours (for those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s unreal! Fun fun fun! they don’t call it funbooth for nothing! lol) and lastly Leisa is going to Trash her Dress! Yeowww! Now Trash the Dress, in a nutshell, is a pretty ‘out-there’ thing to do, only the most daring of brides step out of their comfort zone and actually smuther their dress in dirt/water/sand...

Family Portrait Session – Antonelli Family – Illawarra Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jun 24th, 2010 | no responses

Hey guys, just a quick one today as I have a to-do list a mile long so here goes!! weeeee! Went down to Killalea state park for a portrait session a while ago and thought I might give you a sneak preview of what I was getting myself into.. utter cheekiness from the littlest one Amali made me smile :) When I first met Alesa at her house in Black butt I walked in to find this cheeky little girl trying to climb the furniture. She looked up, giggled and chuckled the ever most adorable laugh from a 1 year old you have ever heard.. to put it in a nutshell.. you could just eat her! (figuratively speaking). Now...

Tayma, Dean & Laura – Family Portraits – Illawarra Portrait Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jun 23rd, 2010 | no responses

A cheeky trio of siblings shot at Sandon Point. What can I say guys? You made me feel for a split second, that I wasn’t working! That’s how fun it was :) Will never be able to describe how saw my jaw was when we finished up!.. stories, anectodes and memories relived whilst we were shooting! ..They kept laughing about all the fun times they’d shared together. Come to think of it.. I wonder what would have happened if I were a middle child? I mean if there was another sister/brother after me. Now MY brother and I shared what we call a love-hate relationship. I love him.. he hates...

Glamour Shoot – Illawarra Photographer – Make Up Artist / Olivia Clee

Posted by Ela on Jun 22nd, 2010 | no responses

Welcome to the extended blog post of my collaboration shoot with Make up artist – Olivia Clee. This was shot in Olivia’s side yard, a little empty block of grass next door. I was so happy to see the 4pm afternoon light peeking over the horizon, it created a block of yellow warm light .. mmm. I was aiming for a low contrast natural look to her head shots and limiting the half/full body shots. Showing off Olivia’s expertise was my main priority, and ofcourse Sarah didn’t make it hard for the images to look absolutely stunning! First shot – I believe this one set me back...

Official 2010 Formal Photography Package – Pre-formal photo sessions

Posted by Ela on Jun 21st, 2010 | no responses

Ela Photography has finally released it’s 2010 Formal Photography Packages. Promotions will be distributed to all the local schools in the Illawarra and will be taking bookings until October 2010. Don’t miss out! Contact us today! Your Illawarra Photographer! Ela! Share on Facebook

Graffiti Shoot – Illawarra Fashion Photographer – Wollongong

Posted by Ela on Jun 20th, 2010 | no responses

Headed out to shoot some graffiti shots to test some off camera flash. Use two canon speed light 580EX2′s with my trusty manfrotto tripod. Just about a 10 minute hike from Figtree Westfield, this location was amazing! graffiti everywhere kilometers long! As I am getting into more and more off camera flash as opposed to the more durable natural lighting, I am loving the lack of editing required for such easy lighting set ups. My great friend Steve Broadbent showed me an image with a motorcycle and it’s owner.. I said wow! how long did that take you to photo shop? ..He said I hardly...

Bridal Shoot – Bombo – Illawarra Wedding Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jun 14th, 2010 | no responses

And this weeks test shoot was a bridal shoot featuring Bombo Quarry, about a 10 minute hike from Bombo beach. I first saw this location a year ago when Mark Nolan shot down here. He ever so kindly let me tag along and learnt a fair bit from him just from this one shoot. Amongst many other things I learnt the purpose of a strobe grid ..and that Bombo is infested with mozzies.. I decided to shoot a bridal down here to test some off camera flash. We tried mounting the light stand with rocks and loose pebbles but seeing as though I had to do without an assistant to hold it, we scrapped that idea the...

Private Pre-Formal Photo Sessions – Wollongong – Lake Illawarra

Posted by Ela on Jun 9th, 2010 | no responses

Wouldn’t it be nice to capture all your memories from your last school year? Year 10 and 12 formals are just around the corner so why not let a professional capture the essence and fun of your circle of friends. Fun, flirty or a daring photo shoot where you go out with a bang! I personally had one for year 10 where my 3 best friends headed down to the beach and had all the images on a DVD to remember the great times we had together.How often is it you get to dress up in a beautiful gown or suit pampered two hours before, spend a small fortune on hair and makeup to have it disappear in...

Fashion Shoot – Kim – Mt Annan

Posted by Ela on Jun 8th, 2010 | no responses

Kim and I have been through so much together like: - being yelled at by dominant males who love their golf turf and specifying why high heels on the new green is a bad thing LOL -Being approached by disgusting port men with no teeth asking for a fan shot lol -Jumping into pools on freezing cold days (well not me, just kim hehe) -And almost breaking my neck in her bathtub during our second shoot lol We adopted each other on a modelling site a year ago and fell in love at first site.. with collaborating that is :) since then I’ve been proud to call her my girl .. Luv ya kimmy! Now this first...

Wedding Slideshow – Leisa & Jay – Illawarra Wedding Photography

Posted by Ela on Jun 8th, 2010 | no responses

Slideshow from Leisa and Jay’s Wedding day from March 20th ..now I was going to go with the traditional wedding song of theirs (If I ain’t got you) but then couldn’t locate it anywhere for purchase as it as an Usher version. So anyway emailed Lisa and asked which song she would like.. she insisted on ‘Down’ by Jay Sean, I said ‘ah yes the slow version is beautiful! Perfect!’ But Leisa insisted on the fast non-candlelight version LOL Now she’s a pretty cool bride, but to have a hip/hop up tempo song to her slideshow hehe .. well it’s non-traditional.....

Wedding – Nan Tien Temple – Illawarra Wedding Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jun 8th, 2010 | one response

First time I met Jo and Dave at Lee and Me last year we sat and talked about randomness for 1.5 hours.. not yet to beat my record of a 3 hour consultation LOL. Getting around to the wedding details, the three of us discussed ideas for photos around the Nan Tien Temple at Berkeley. Small intimate wedding of 50-60 guests it was simple and still very beautiful. I called Jo and said ‘I’m just pulling up the car now, I’m wearing black pants and a blue shirt’ she then replied ‘I have red hair and a grey shirt on’ ..Little did I know to expect the most luscious cherry...

Family Portraits – Killalea State Park – Illawarra Photographer

Posted by Ela on Jun 5th, 2010 | no responses

Tammy and her gorgeous family.. shot at 8:00 in the morning just before Christmas last year. The light was warm, the clouds were formed to perfection and the sea mist rode the morning swells.. Nothing better than a family portrait session before the working day starts. Classic shot below.. Had a bit of trouble getting the kids into the swing of our morning portrait session, a shot worth capturing. I spoke with Tammy 6 months later and she said ‘I love that shot! I still have it as my desktop wallpaper’ lol. Now it occurs to me more every day that memories aren’t about flawless...